Advice needed on home recording

[Geir]

Hi!

I write songs and make demos that I pitch to artists. I do not write cues or anything that is to be used as is, for example through libraries.
The way I work is that I make a "pre-demo" of my song at home and then use this with serious musicians to record a professional demo that I can pitch.

I have been using a Zoom MRS-802 Multitrak Recording Studio (that's how out of date I am) but this has now died on me and I need to find something more appropriate for my needs.

I'm a basic guitar player and a basic piano player and have little knowledge of the technicalities of the recording process. I only know how I want the final result to be.
I have guitars, mikes, and a Yamaha DGX-650 keyboard.

In connection with an up-coming burthday, my family has decided that they want to buy me a new means of "pre-demoing" my songs.
The problem is that I really don't know what I should go for.

Based on the info above, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Geir

[Len911]

Geir, if you are open to recording with a computer, something like this for $100

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Lambda
It's the interface for your mics, electric guitar, midi for the keyboard. It comes bundled with Cubase LE.

http://www.steinberg.net/en/landing_pag ... _le_7.html


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... HLfexN92cy

[Geir]

Thank you Len for your suggestion.
This could very well work for me.
Thanks for your help.

Geir

[TheElement]

Hi Geir,

What Robert recommends is great. Kind of how I started. Actually I used to use a Tascam 4 track tape recorder and send my tracks to LA to be produced. That was like 15 years ago.

When I got back into writing I decided I needed to do everything myself so bought a Zoom R8 which came with Cubase LE. So I had two ways to record. On the Zoom R8 or use Cubase LE.

I started using the Zoom R8 as an interface and used the free audio recording software Audacity to multi track on my PC. I didn't think I could figure out something like Cubase. But I ended up wanting to work with midi so downloaded a whole bunch of demos of DAW's and tried them all out to see which one was the simplest.

I gravitated back to Cubase LE. Ended up buying a proper interface and started upgrading my Cubase. I'm now on Cubase Artist 7.5 but really could use the full Pro version.

So thats kind of how I ended up producing using the computer and Cubase. I own my masters now and all 100% of copyright. However I must have spent like $10,000 in equipment and sounds in my first year but now every track I make is basically free. Just costs me time.

[Geir]

Thank you Element. Between you and Len you've convinced me.

Geir

[mojobone]

I like solid state hardware recorders for your application, because there's no risk of machine/fan noise from a computer. The Zoom R8 and the the rest of their R line with up to eight simultaneous inputs also can function as USB interfaces and they're all very portable and boot up almost instantly, so you don't lose inspiration doing a lot of session setup. The Zoom H5 might be all you need and includes some excellent mic options, in the bargain.

If you need to run more tracks, I think Tracktion is still the easiest DAW to learn; inputs on the left, outputs on the right, master bus in the lower right corner, signal flow is obvious and everything you need for tracking and editing is on a single page, no mucking about with extra windows and menus, except for your plugins, which are freely dragged and dropped on tracks, clips or the master bus; you just build as much mixer as you need, a track at a time or in groups that can link to faders.

If you were doing finals as opposed to scratch tracks/demos I'd suggest something in a USB interface with some really nice preamps; M-Audio makes some with great bang for your buck, and they're ProTools compatible, if you decide to go that route.

[Geir]

Thanks Mojo.
The more I hear the more I realise how much I don't know, and the more confused I get.
But without you guys I wouldn't even know where to start looking. So thanks!

I realise that I will still have to keep thinking, but thought has never been my thing so I guess I'm just going to have to close my eyes and pick a number and hope that it works.
See you at the Rally and maybe that will help me make the final decision. If not, then it's back to the bar ...

[mojobone]

Feel free to ask questions, it's what we're here, for. Info is easy, hookers & blow cost money.

[Len911]

The $99 interface I suggested has midi in/out. I didn't see any of the other $99 interfaces that did including ones that were bundled with Tracktion software.

TheElement said he had a Zoom R8, tried different daws and returned to Cubase, and upgraded his interface from the Zoom R8. The zoom R8 is $300.

If you were doing finals as opposed to scratch tracks/demos I'd suggest something in a USB interface with some really nice preamps; M-Audio makes some with great bang for your buck, and they're ProTools compatible, if you decide to go that route.

This circles right back to a usb interface like I suggested, the $99 M-audio doesn't have midi. The $149 M-audio doesn't have midi but is bundled with Cubase Le. The $249 M-audio does have midi.
Tracktion 4 software is free, so you can download that from the Mackie website. That gives you a choice of Tracktion or cubase to use with the interface I recommended, if you go that route.

If you end up using the Zoom as an interface to the computer, you lose any benefit of noise or startup time from the computer, and have just spent $300 instead of $100.

There's no benefit of using the zoom over the computer interface, unless you are totally fearful of using a computer imo!

[mojobone]

The $99 interface I suggested has midi in/out. I didn't see any of the other $99 interfaces that did including ones that were bundled with Tracktion software.

TheElement said he had a Zoom R8, tried different daws and returned to Cubase, and upgraded his interface from the Zoom R8. The zoom R8 is $300.

If you were doing finals as opposed to scratch tracks/demos I'd suggest something in a USB interface with some really nice preamps; M-Audio makes some with great bang for your buck, and they're ProTools compatible, if you decide to go that route.

This circles right back to a usb interface like I suggested, the $99 M-audio doesn't have midi. The $149 M-audio doesn't have midi but is bundled with Cubase Le. The $249 M-audio does have midi.
Tracktion 4 software is free, so you can download that from the Mackie website. That gives you a choice of Tracktion or cubase to use with the interface I recommended, if you go that route.

If you end up using the Zoom as an interface to the computer, you lose any benefit of noise or startup time from the computer, and have just spent $300 instead of $100.

There's no benefit of using the zoom over the computer interface, unless you are totally fearful of using a computer imo!

The benefit of using the Zoom over a desktop is that it's portable, but...so is a laptop, but that's one less thing to carry, and the R series has knobs and faders-a control surface for your DAW, in other words, but you could also get some of that functionality from an analog mixer with a USB interface, only the analog faders won't necessarily control your DAW, (a digital mixer would) you could still use them to mix DAW tracks and loop back to a DAW's 2-mix, but of course, you lose level automation and gain some nicer mic preamps. I can say that Zoom's preamps are well-regarded among film crews/location recorders. Another benefit is you can use longer mic and USB cable runs to help isolate open mics from the computer, if needed.

You might not need a separate MIDI interface, since USB MIDI support is built into most modern operating systems; it's only legacy music hardware that sometimes lacks a USB port. My particular case, my Alesis D5 drum module doesn't have a USB port, but I simply daisy chain it to the newer Alesis ControlPad, which does. (I could also have connected the D5's MIDI out to any of my newer keyboards that have both ports) Its USB port is essentially a MIDI Thru; on some hardware that might require changing a setting with either a hardware or software switch, but usually it'll be the default, and when you find only two MIDI ports, the output is usually labeled "OUT/THRU". And lastly, a laptop or desktop with an SSD will boot up just as fast as the Zoom, and some of the Chromebooks don't even have a fan, so computer noise isn't necessarily always an issue